This time around, Hawke would play a fighter pilot who becomes a Las Vegas drone pilot; he leads a double life fighting the Taliban, and carrying on as if all is normal at home with his wife and kids. He eventually has a crisis of conscience, wondering if he’s in fact creating more terrorists than killing them.

The film is set for a February 1 production start.

Hawke has had a big year. Richard Linklater’s “Before Midnight,” the third film in the series charting the so-far 21 year romance between an American man (played by Hawke) and French woman (Julie Delpy), landed some of the strongest reviews of 2013. And horror film “The Purge,” with Hawke headlining, made $63 million domestically — not bad for a film that only cost $3 million.